Overview of the Semantic Gap - What is it? The semantic gap is the difference between human perception of observations, activities, and objects and their computational or machine-based representations(). It is a split between high level features, or semantic information, and low-level features, of which there are many types. High-level features can include keywords, concepts, categories, or ontologies - virtually all things that lead to determining meanings of text-based information and phrases. Low-level features can include color, texture, resolution, encoding, salient points, etc. which are all measurable aspects of content-based information, or non-text information, such as images and videos. The spread of multimedia on the web is widening…
If you look a word up online there is a possibility that you could wind up finding about three different versions of the word, and that doesn’t even include the slang versions of a word. Imagine we found another world with similar substances as there are on Earth, but they all had different names. This could potentially create a barrier in communication. Hilary Putnam thought he could solve an issue like this by creating what he called natural kind terms. Even if you can buy into Putnam’s…
In Timothy D. O’Brien’s criticism of Ernest Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” he concentrates mainly on how allusion and word play contribute to the central conflict of the short story. The story mainly consists of the dialogue between the American and Jig. The choice of the nickname Jig, along with the repetition of certain words such as “know” and “fine” stood out to me while reading the story. In addition to the word choice, the train never comes at the end of the story, leaving it…
When the dust had settled following the grisly Civil War, Americans realized just how uncivil the war actually was. Significant loss of life was never the intention, but it was the result of this bloody war. The fate of a fractured America grieving the loss of hundreds of thousands of men was a cause of concern for all citizens. One of those people pondering America and its future was the poet, Walt Whitman. Through the careful usage of figurative, denotative and connotative language, Walt…
relation to alternative opinions. These strategies include: (1) disclaim (i.e., deny or counter), (2) proclaim (i.e., pronounce, endorse, or concur), (3) entertain (i.e., considering a proposition as subjective and a possibility among other propositions), and (4) attribute (i.e., acknowledge or distance). Situating Appraisal in SFL Appraisal theory is concerned with discourse at the semantic level; as such, Martin and White (2005) situated it within the interpersonal function of SFL. They…
Semantic Priming Semantic priming is a common priming paradigm in many monolingual studies (Bleasdale, 1987; Ferrand & New, 2003; Neely et al., 1989; Perea & Rosa, 2002a, 2002b; Hutchison, 2003; Lucas, 2000; Neely, 1991), but is less common in cross-language priming (Duyck, 2005; Kroll & Stewart, 1990; Schoonbaert et al., 2007; Chen & Ng, 1989; de Groot & Nas, 1991; Keatley et al. 1994; Schwanenflugel & Rey 1986; Basnight-Brown & Altarriba, 2007). Semantic priming studies offer an investigation…
It is impossible to get through a single day, without encountering language, whether it be written or spoken. Therefore, it is crucial to possess a comprehensive knowledge of how language works. It is important to not only know what words mean, it is also necessary to understand how words and phrases are strung together to make coherent sentences. This helps in comprehending the meaning of a text overall. Hence the study of linguistics is vital for understanding the ins and outs of the English…
Arguably one of the important decisions people have to make upon becoming parents is picking a name for their newborn child, a handle he can proudly use for the rest of his life. As the naming paradigm seems to be shifting towards more variety and creativity1, the artisans of new names have to pay attention to the thin line between unique and odd, culturally representative and obscure and powerful and offensive. If the impact of their choice was limited to themselves, the state would have no…
Independant: free from outside control; not depending on another 's authority - not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence. In my life experience independance was always a desirable quality to strive for and also one that I would consider myself to possess. Parents praise their children for learning to be independent, teachers praise their students for thinking independently, and men generally find independence as being an attractive quality in women. This word has always had a…
Hermeneutics, a critical approach, is concerned with understanding of meaning of texts. It was first employed in interpreting The Old Testament and TheBible and law. This study deals with three issues: concept of hermeneutics, Husserl's and Heidegger's philosophical influences on hermeneutics, and the applicability of hermeneutics in Joyce's Finn's Hotel analysis. It is prefaced by explaining the essential concepts of hermeneutics, such as, prejudice, historical horizon, historical…